Whippin the yams, whippin and flippin the yams...

Because sometimes life is just "TEW MUCH" and you need to be pushed around on your chariot while the peasants do all the manual labor. Little girl was knocked out while her mama purchased her pampers. OKAY! The life.

Backed chicken breasts with a blackberry BBQ sauce I made.

Stole this "seafood bake" idea from a follower on IG. I of course made the alfredo sauce from scratch, it's super easy. Alfredo sauce is nothing but heavy cream and seasonings.

I cubed Sargento Tasting's pepper jack and Vermont White Cheddar Cheese. OH! It's shrimp and scallops in there btw.

Sprinkled some bread crumbs on top with a little parmesan and VOILA! 

I should be a professional healthy snack shopper. I love this seasoned seaweed.

I get these chips from BJ's and they are so freaking good. Not to mention they're pretty darn healthy. I believe this product was my first time having something that was "sprouted" and it's peaked my interest to try other sprouted foods. Here's the very cool website: http://gowaybetter.com/products/sweet-chili/

My coworker made a cast iron apple pie. He didn't add too much sugar either, I could tell by how it tasted, it was pretty tart, which means I didn't feel so guilty eating the little bit I did :) It's so pretty.

Prepping Thai meatballs. Ground 99% turkey meat, chopped Thai basil leaves, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, 1 egg for the mixture to stick.

Roll em up, roll em up, and put em in the pan! LMAO! No, I didn't add breadcrumbs, why should I?

When it's all said and done...covered em in this tasty sriracha roasted garlic BBQ sauce I got from Trader Joe's. Every ingredient in organic and it helps that Trader Joe's does tastings, so I got to try it before I bought it. 

Goat and lamb stew with a side of cornbread. 

I followed an oxtail recipe for this stew and put it over egg noodles. Goat meat is REALLY lean, leaner than beef and chicken.

I had coupons and bought about 5 bottles. I was skeptical of the light version because the original is just so dag on good, but it didn't disappoint.

And peep the calories. This is the lowest amount of calories I've ever seen in a dressing with the lowest being 50 that I've seen before. Yes, I see the sodium content but that's what you get when you buy dressings from the store.

Decided to give these protein bars a try. thumbs down at least for the banana bread one. It tasted like chalk.

Add Supper Club menu.

Course 1: Snails & Coconut. I was talking to someone and said I had "snails" and they tried to come for me in this rude tone of voice saying "escargot" I quickly snapped back. I know wtf escargot is, the menu said snails, so I called it snails. It wasn't in the shell like how escargot is typically served snaps fingers

Course 2: Lumpia. My first lumpia experience. It's basically a Thai egg roll from the pics I've seen before, but this was served chilled. It was good, the wrap was more of a crepe than your traditional thin egg roll wrapper.

Course 3: BBQ Fish. That red ball is the tomato and is was the best thing on this plate. When the skin is served on my fish I like for it to be crispy and this wasn't. 

Course 4: Adobo Pork. This was so doggone good. UGHHHHHH! SOOOO GOOODDD!

Course 5: Buttermilk Panna Cotta. This dessert was a beautiful mixture of texture, sweets, fruity flavors, crumbles, little pieces of chocolate, and the red vein sorrel made it even better with the tart/sweet taste.

The review I left for the chef on the back of the rating card.

This is called Mexican street corn. As always, I've seen it on Food Network and that's what made me order it. I was in Charlottesville with coworkers for an all-day training and when lunch time approached, I ventured onto Yelp and found a nearby Mexican/Peruvian restaurant. Everyone followed us there and I felt like my arse was on the line because I choose the restaurant...

This is the cemitas sandwich. Better known as Jesus's tears of joy.

You first choose your meat, I chose the charcoal rotisserie chicken. Then they pile everything else on top of the seeded bun: avocado, adobo chipotle peppers, fresh Oaxacan (WAH-HA-CAN) cheese, papalo (summer cilantro), red onions, and here's the kicker...A SLICE OF HAM!

The makings of pecan fig butter. I got the idea from the butter that was on my sweet potato at Founding Farmers, did a little googling and this is what they said it was. Pulsed some pecans, figs, added some seasonings I can't remember, such as cinnamon, ginger, maple syrup, then...

Mixed it with room temperature butter. Yummy! I, of course, but it on sweet potatoes but it's also REALLY good on pancakes. Enjoy!

I Just Realized How Grown I Am...

When the holidays roll around, I typically go on a tour of VA, it's slightly annoying having to do a bunch of driving, but it's always worth it in the end. This is how it usually goes Thanksgiving, stop by my mom's house (Fredericksburg) Thanksgiving morning, eat with her, then head to Richmond to spend time with the aunts, uncles, cousins, dad, and stepmom, leave at about 11 and crawl back in the bed. Christmas usually goes like this, Christmas Eve with Justyn's fam, Christmas morning with my mom in Fredericksburg, Christmas evening with extended family in Richmond, then back up north I go. You see where this is going? Well, my mom lives in Florida now, so I no longer have to make as many stops, OR so I thought. So Justyn and I rode down to the 757 together (because my car was already down there) Thanksgiving morning,  all for me to jump in the car with my parents and ride to Richmond, get back to Hampton at 3:45am Friday morning -_-, then dinner with Justyn's family Friday evening, chill Saturday with my parents, followed by Richmond again on Sunday after church. Listen honey! I wasn't supposed to leave Hampton until Monday morning, but I was NOT about to spend my time off from work being in the car for 3 days, so I drove my happy hips to Richmond Sunday and came home afterwards. Best decision I could've made for myself...

Now let me tell you, I haven't been to Hampton in God knows how long, meaning I haven't stayed with my parents in God knows how long either. I realized something while I was down there, I'm grown. LMAO! I need my space. I've always known that I can only be around my parents for a max 4 hours in one day, one setting, but I always thought it was because they were overwhelming, but really it's because of my personality type. My MBTI results said I was an ENFJ, meaning I'm an extravert, I draw my energy from the outside world, but I'm BARELY (imagine that "blind" chic in the back of the cop car as you read that) an extravert, merely by one point. So that means, I need my alone time just as much as I need my group time. Well honey, I'm an only child, and that just DOESN'T happen with my parents. Any time we're together, they wanna be TOGETHER. Mainly my dad, my mom has a very similar personality to me, which is why we get along so well. I mean this with love because it's absolutely hilarious, but my dad is a handful. We're watching TV in the living room and he talks throughout the entire show for hours. LMAO! I mean all we watching is a marathon of Chopped and he commentating like it's sports. BRUH! "AWH MAN! I KNEW IT! I TOLD YA'LL HE WAS GONE WIN, DIDN'T I?!?!" LMAOOOO! It's so freaking hilarious...for the first hour...and as I look back on it now, but it's overwhelming in the moment because I really can't deal with a lot of stimuli sometimes.

The positive is I got uninterrupted time with my dad, I learned how to make my stepmom's dinner rolls. I just ate 5 by the way...as a snack; I may need an intervention. Pray it goes to my butt. I also got to spend my grandpa's 85th birthday with him. I'm realizing as I get older how important it is for me to spend time with my family, even if it means a bunch of driving because I don't want to have any regrets when they're gone.

Black don't crack. 85.

Why does making yeast rolls take over 2 hours and a lot of shoulder muscles???

But they were totally worth it. Dang! I want another 1 now.

So, I realized I was grown because I need my space and the ability to shut folks out when need be. If you're asking yourself "well what you gone do when you're married, Tiffany?!" my answer would be "aint that what separate bedrooms, living rooms, and knowing your partner is for". Just saying. Plus, you can't be as blunt with your parents as you can be with your partner. Also, Justyn knows when to leave me alone, my dad on the other hand, will see it all over my face, ignore it, and keep on talking. LMAO! I swear I love him. Also, I can't stand not having my snacks, fave food items, and etc in the house. As you can imagine.

I just love being in my own space.  Now let me get back to looking at serving dishes, platters, and beverage dispensers online, because again, I'M GROWN!